2022 Tenno Sho Autumn Odds & Betting Pick

The upcoming weekend features several interesting races at the Japanese tracks. On Saturday, the G2 Swan Stakes will be the headline of the meeting at the Hanshin Race Course, where a competitive field of three-year-old and older sprinters will cover the distance of seven furlongs.

In Tokyo, two-year-old fillies will face off in the G3 Artemis Stakes, with Liberty Island looking like the leading chance. On Sunday, the 2022 Tenno Sho Autumn will be held in Tokyo, where the last year’s Japanese Derby winner, Shahryar, could achieve the third G1 victory of his career.

Still, he will be challenged by this year’s 2000 Guineas victor Geoglyph and both 2000 Guineas and Japanese Derby runner-up Equinox.

The Swan Stakes

On the turf surface, eighteen three-year-old and older horses will cover the distance of seven furlongs while vying for the purse of 114,620,000 Yen. The G2 event lured in a couple of three-year-olds who will carry the smallest weight here, especially filly Sublime Anthem.

The Hideaki Fujiwara bound daughter of Lord Kanaloa broke her maiden at the sixth attempt in 2022 and immediately aimed among the G2 company in the Hochi Hai Fillies’ Revue, which is the trial for the Japanese 1000 Guineas ( Oka Sho). Sublime Anthem narrowly scored the race and understandably headed to the Classic event.

Back then, she couldn’t get past the ninth place and hasn’t hit the track since April; however, she suggested some talent and thanks to the light weight, she could impact Saturday’s race. Matenro Orion is the second three-year-old in the Swan Stakes, while he has only six outings under his belt. The Mitsugu Kon trained colt won a Stakes race as a junior and also commenced the new season with a bang, scoring a G3 race over a mile.

Subsequently, Matenro Orion finished second at the G2 scene and affirmed his class by taking the same spot in the G1 NHK Mile Cup behind the smart Danon Scorpion. He, indeed, utterly failed to make an impression in the Japanese Derby, but the distance was too long, so a drop in the class and trip should suit him.

In terms of older horses, Lotus Land looks interesting. The five-year-old mare achieved her premiere Graded victory in 2021 and added the second one in February 2022. Although she succeeded only among the G3, she right away aimed at the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen over six furlongs, and surprisingly, Lotus Land ran a blinder in second.

In June, she didn’t draw on that performance in the G1 Yasuda Kinen; however, she needs to be respected at the G2 level despite not running since. The field comprises several smart horses capable of big efforts from time to time, which applies to Travesura, a runner-up in the G2 Keio Hai Spring Cup in May, who also finished fourth in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen.

The other participant with a similar resume is Diatonic, a seven-year-old with several Graded triumphs under the belt. He didn’t show much in any of the mentioned G1 events; however, he took fourth place in the G1 Sprinters Stakes in October.

HORSE	JOCKEY	ODDS BY JAZZSPORTS
Ho O Amazon	C.Demuro	+410
Vatreni	K.Yokoyama	+3640
La La Christine	A.Sugawara	+330
Diatonic	Y.Iwata	+590
King of Koji	S.Hamanaka	+3070
Matenro Orion	N.Yokoyama	+590
Lotus Land	M.Iwata	+520
Travesura	K.Sameshima	+460
Cadence Call	Y.Kitamura	+10190
Besten Dank	F.Matsuwaka	+10190
Le Plus Fort	Y.Take	+2070
Sublime Anthem	Y.Fukunaga	+1430
Captain Drake	K.Fujioka	+10190
Meisho Mimosa	K.Ikezoe	+10190
Mikki Brillante	R.Wada	+10190
Raymond Barows	H.Yoshida	+2840
Sky Groove	C.Lemaire	+470

Swan Stakes Odds & Betting Pick

Matenro Orion, who should enjoy the smaller weight compared to others and because the field is so competitive here, Matenro Orion could shine despite not being a favourite.

The Artemis Stakes

Two-year-old fillies will clash in this G3 race, boasting a purse of 56,110,000 Yen. Ten of them will cover the distance of a mile on the turf surface, while most of the participants have a single start to them, usually victorious.

Liberty Island could bag her premiere Graded success here, as her debut was quite impressive. The daughter of Duramente showed up at Niigata Race Course in July when she handled the mile-long Newcomer race beautifully. She galloped at the rear of the field, improved her position in the final stretch, and then she took command and scored easily by three lengths thanks to her eye-catching finish.

Back then, she was basically in a league of her own, so she should have a say also in the Artemis Stakes. The Mitsumasa Nakauchida bound filly will face, for example, Ravel, who also triumphed in her debut. In July, the Kitasan Black bay hit the track at Kokura and wasn’t the quickest out of the gate, too. Still, she was right behind the leaders upon turning for home of the Newcomer race over a mile and a furlong, upon which she had no problems taking the lead and scoring the race with ease.

In Chukyo, Malaki Naia delivered in a mile-long Newcomer race in June, defeating her rivals by at least two lengths. The other three fillies have a similar profile, but we picked only one of them to cover in the article as her pedigree catches attention. Her name is Dane Balance, and she is trained by Haruki Sugiyama, for whom she narrowly achieved a Newcomer victory in August.

Back then, she bettered the field of eighteen participants; however, the most interesting thing about her is that she’s the daughter of Epiphaneia and Nothing But Dreams, a mare sire by Frankel and out of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victress Danedream.

Besides the mentioned runners, there is Mississippi Tesoro, who has hit the track twice and emerged victoriously on both occasions. In June, she scored a Newcomer race over a mile very easily, and in August, she showed up in Niigata to bag the Dahlia Sho over seven furlongs. The extra experience might come in handy on Saturday.

HORSE	JOCKEY	ODDS BY JAZZSPORTS
Nishino Kofuku	K.Miura	+4130
Kosei Maria	D.Sasaki	+4600
Liberty Island	Y.Kawada	-167
Dynato Selene	T.Yokoyama	+2250
Dane Balance	K.Tosaki	+1920
Alice Verite	H.Tanabe	+440
Mississippi Tesoro	T.Kowata	+960
Masculine	S.Ishibashi	+3750
Malaki Naia	K.Matsuyama	+1020
Ravel	R.Sakai	+1230

Artemis Stakes Odds & Betting Prediction

Liberty Island, who oozed class in her debut, and in this race, she should affirm that impression.

Tenno Sho (Autumn)

The treasured feat of the Japanese season offers a purse of 384,500,000 Yen and is open to three-year-old and up, who will cover the distance of a mile and a quarter. On the turf surface, the G1 race attracted fifteen participants, among which it is extremely difficult to pick the five with the best chances here.

Let’s start with three-year-old contestants, especially Equinox, who failed to record a Classic victory despite being fancied for two of them; still, he delivered great efforts. The Tetsuya Kimura trained colt commenced his career in 2021 when he scored his debut and then bagged the G2 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes in November, which was his second and also last win. In 2022, Equinox kept being quite unexposed, as he ran only twice.

In April, he finished second in the Japanese 2000 Guineas, upon which he took the same spot in the Japanese Derby. He hasn’t hit the track since as his team looks to be very careful with the son of Kitasan Black, and it might be an advantage as there is still plenty of room for progress; however, the pause between the Japanese Derby and Sunday’s race stretched to five months. It doesn’t seem ideal, but his three-year-old rivals face the same issue here.

Geoglyph bettered Equinox over the distance of a mile in the 2000 Guineas, and even though he didn’t draw on that performance in the Japanese Derby, he shouldn’t be underestimated in the Tenno Sho. Back then, the chestnut probably wasn’t thrilled about the distance; moreover, he is quite dependent on the way the race unfolds, given he relies on his finish from the rear of the field.

The stable-mate of Equinox is classy and should enjoy the trip, which applies to Danon Beluga, too. The bay looked green when taking fourth place in the 2000 Guineas, and even though he handled the Japanese Derby similarly, the pause between the race might’ve helped him develop into a more mature specimen.

Regarding the older participants, Shahryar is the main star. The four-year-old is trained by Hideaki Fujiwara and snatched up the triumph in the last year’s Japanese Derby. Subsequently, he affirmed his talent in the Japan Cup, where he finished third, while in 2022, he recorded only two outings, including the victory in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March.

Then he showed up at the Royal Ascot meeting, taking fourth place in the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes. He hasn’t run since June. Jack d’Or needs to be mentioned, too, given the chestnut won five races in a row between September 2021 and March 2022, and even though he finished only fifth in his G1 premiere, he made amends in the G2 Sapporo Kinen.

In August, Jack d’Or triumphed once again and should be respected on Sunday alongside Maria Elena, who scored a G3 last time out. It wouldn’t have been considered anything special in this company hadn’t the four-year-old filly destroyed the competition of solid horses by at least five lengths.

HORSE	JOCKEY	ODDS BY JAZZSPORTS
Maria Elena	K.Matsuyama	+1530
Karate	A.Sugawara	+4380
Panthalassa	Y.Yoshida	+2140
Potager	H.Yoshida	+2890
Danon Beluga	Y.Kawada	+1020
Geoglyph	Y.Fukunaga	+3480
Equinox	C.Lemaire	+140
Shahryar	C.Demuro	+340
Jack d’Or	Y.Fujioka	+240
North Bridge	Y.Iwata	+3480
Red Galant	K.Yokoyama	+17700
Uberleben	M.Demuro	+17700